The Washington Nationals officially called Ross Ohlendorf up this afternoon, selecting the right-hander from Triple-A Syracuse to make tonight's start against the Colorado Rockies. Over the course of his career, the 30-year-old, six-year MLB veteran is (1-1) with a 5.00 ERA, five home runs and six walks allowed in six starts and 27.0 IP against the Rockies in which he's collected 21 Ks. Three of those five starts have taken place in Coors Field where Ohlendorf has a 6.94 ERA in 11.2 IP. The right-hander signed with the Nationals this past January. In 13 games and 12 starts at Triple-A, Ohlendorf is (4-5) with a 4.27 ERA, a 3.44 FIP, 30 walks (3.77 BB/9) and 67 Ks (8.41 K/9) in 71.2 IP.
The Nationals' offense turned it on last summer when they visited Coors Field. After dropping the first game of a four-game set 4-2 to the Rockies late last June, the Nationals won two of the next three and scored a 33 runs in those three games. Can the Nats score some runs if Ohlendorf can keep the home team at bay? The Nationals managed just eight hits and three runs in last night's 8-3 loss. Asked about his team's approach, Davey Johnson said, "We had opportunities, we weren't as centered on the ball like we have been, but it can happen."
• Listen to The Mike Rizzo Show on 106.7 the FAN in D.C. Pt. 1.
Nats' GM Mike Rizzo talked about the Nationals' offense this morning on 106.7 the FAN in D.C.' s The Mike Rizzo Show with Holden Kushner and Danny Rouhier. "I like where we're getting to offensively," Rizzo said. "Adam LaRoche, he's been swinging the bat very well since the end of April. [Ian Desmond] looks like he's heating up. [Ryan Zimmerman] has had some good at bats. [Anthony] Rendon has come up and really centered the ball very nicely and given us some really good at bats. Last night, a case in point, we hit the ball extremely hard at times and great plays by [Troy] Tulowitzki and kind of at'em balls kind of hurt us and frustrate you."
• Listen to The Mike Rizzo Show On 106.7 The FAN in D.C. Pt. 2.
"When you're not going good and you center balls up and you hit it hard and it goes at somebody or they make great plays, it's very frustrating," Rizzo said, "But we have to get past that, we have to string together good, consistent at bats all nine innings, and I think that's where we're trying to get to. And again, we need to get healthy. We need to get our full lineup in there, so we can get some synergy and start gelling as a whole, as an offensive unit and do the right thing and play good baseball offensively, and I think when we start doing that we'll get energized and start putting some runs on the board."
• Here's the lineup Davey Johnson's hoping will start to put some runs on the board tonight:
Tonight's lineup at COL: Span CF, Kobernus LF, Zimmerman 3B, Werth RF, LaRoche 1B, Desmond SS, Rendon 2B, Solano C, Ohlendorf P
— Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) June 12, 2013
Game Time 8:40 pm EDT from Coors Field.